Hey guys! New to the forums. I'm stumped.
I just picked up a 97 850 T5 for $350 because its thought to have a bad head gasket.
The car ran and drove, semi rough until warm, then it spuddered and died.
But their is no coolant in the oil at all. It does not smoke even the slightest
bit, but the back of the car is covered in a slight black dust.
Seeing no coolant in the oil, I did a compression test and all cylinders are within 10 PSI of eachother.
I got (cold) 130 for cyl. 1 and 2, and 120 for 3-5.
I read that is quite low, but it was consistent so I did some more
research before pulling the head.
I found a post about a guy with a rough idle and dies when warm. He said his
distributor cap was full of condensation. when he dried it, it ran great for a few days until it became moist a few days later. He said when he replaced the cam seal he hasent had a problem since.
So I went and pulled mine apart, full of moisture. Dried it out, ran great. Put some coolant in, took it for a small drive. got it warm, and coolant was spraying out of the back of the motor by the turbo.
I havent gotten the chance to pull the heat sheilds of yet today, but I will right after work.

Just looking for a more experienced opinion on weather or not to go ahead and pull the head.

Thanks for any help guys!

PS, I also have a 98 S70 T5, which i purchased with a rod through the block, If anybody in the WI, MN area has a short block or a fair priced B5234T3 motor, I am very interested.

 

If you're lucky it's a heater hose or the line taking coolant to the turbo. Once you get the heat shield(s) off you'll have a better view.

Best to rinse off the coolant and let it dry some, fill up the overflow and start it up and let it build some pressure and see if you see it spraying.

That or pump some pressure into the system if you can get a loaner radiator pressure tester from oreilly or autozone ....

 

I just had that EXACT same scare the week after I bought my car, it also wound up being a turbo cooler line for me as well. If that's your case, you'll be looking for an OEM part because the hose is larger on one side than the other.